Hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus a condition in which the normal circulatory pathways of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are altered. Hydrocephalus can result from a number of conditions including congenital malformations, infection, hemorrhage, or brain tumors. With the accumulation of CSF, the intracranial pressure increases resulting in symptoms such as headache, vomiting, altered personality, and decreased cognitive performance. For over 40 years the mainstay of treatment for patients with hydrocephalus has been implanting a shunt, a silastic tube that redirects the CSF fluid to another site for resorption, typically the peritoneal cavity. While very effective in successfully treating the problems associated with hydrocephalus, shunts have a significant rate of failure requiring frequent hospitalizations and additional surgery.

In patients with noncommunicating hydrocephalus, endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) can be used to bypass the site of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obstruction. ETV is a technique that redirects the flow of CSF by creating a small fenestration or opening in the floor of the third ventricle. The obvious advantage of this procedure is that no implanted shunt is needed thus avoiding the potential long-term risks of shunts including infection, migration, or disconnection.